Mónica Lavín (born August 22, 1955) is a Mexican author of six books of short stories, notable among them Ruby Tuesday no ha muerto (1996 recipient of the Gilberto Owen National Literary Prize); Uno no sabe (2003, finalist for the Antonin Artaud award); and her most recent collection, La corredora de Cuemanco y el aficionado a Schubert (Punto de Lectura, 2008). In addition she was awarded the Elena Poniatowska Ibero-American Novel Prize for her work Yo, la peor (2010). Her novel Cuando te hablen de amor (2017) was a finalist for the 2019 Mario Vargas Llosa Biennial Prize for the Novel.[1] She is a member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores (FONCA), was a teacher for the SOGEM Writers’ School, and is currently a professor in the Creative Writing Department of the Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México in México City.[2]

Mónica Lavín
Writer and journalist, Mónica Lavín
Born (1955-08-22) 22 August 1955 (age 68)
Mexico City, Mexico
NationalityMexican
Occupationwriter
Websitehttps://www.monicalavinescritora.com/

Biography edit

Mónica Lavín was born on 22 August 1955 in Mexico City, Mexico. She earned a degree in biology from the Metropolitan Autonomous University.[3] Lavín began writing when she was a teenager, completing her first stories around age thirteen.[4] Her best known works include Café cortado, awarded best book of the year (Premio Narrativa de Colima 2001)[5][6] and La más faulera[7] (Grijalbo), a novel for young readers that has been reprinted several times.[5] Her novel Despertar los apetitos (Alfaguara, 2005), combines Lavín’s passions for food and travel and is based on her trip across Canada on the Transcanadian Railway as a gastronomy journalist.[8][9] Yo, la peor (Grijalbo, 2009), a historical novel about Mexican poet and scholar Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz,[10] was very well received by critics and readers and won the Elena Poniatowska Ibero-American Novel Prize (Spanish: Premio Iberoamericano de Novela Elena Poniatowska).[3][5] Her book of essays Leo luego escribo: ideas for enjoying reading (Lectorum, 2000) was chosen for the National Classroom Library Program. Her work is widely anthologized in Mexico and around the world (United States, Italy, Canada, France, Spain, Panamá).[2]

Screenwriter, Columnist, Public Appearances edit

As a documentary screenwriter, Lavín received the Pantalla de Cristal Award (2010) for coauthoring "Bajo la región más transparente"[11] about Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes. She appears frequently on radio, television and writes for the print media. She has given conferences and lectures in various forums and universities in México as well as abroad. She wrote the musical and cuisine show for the band Mariachi Charanda entitled "Canciones a la Carta".

Lavín has also published many non-fiction works in the fields of scientific and food journalism. She is a contributor to a variety of periodicals including El Economista, El Universal, Época, La Plaza, La Vida Literaria, Memoria de Papel, Mundo Celular, Nonotza, and Vértigo.[3] She was a Literary resident in the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada,[12] the Yaddo Colony of the Arts in Saratoga Springs and The Hermitage Retreat in Florida. She has worked as a publisher, scriptwriter; and radio and television host in conversation with other writers. She has been invited to give lectures and readings in Mexico and abroad.[3][4][13] She writes for the cultural section of the El Universal newspaper, Fahrenheit art magazine, and interviews writers for public television in Mexico.[14]

Lavín is a columnist for the newspaper El Universal, and in addition has given conferences both in Mexico as well as in Italy, France, the U.S.A., and Canada. Currently she contributes the column "Dorar la pildora"[15] in the Cultural Section of El Universal, and she also writes for the magazine Fahrenheit. In 2011, she participated in the Annual Writers' Conference[16] held in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, as well as in a conference at the Instituto de Artes Gráficas in Oaxaca. Additionally, she is the host of the radio program "Ficcionario de Código DF"[17] that is broadcast on the Internet. From 2016 to 2021 she was the co-host with writer Rosa Beltrán of a literary talk show on Canal 22, "Contraseñas".[18][19]

Awards and recognition edit

Lavín received the Gilberto Owen National Literary Prize in 1996 for her work Ruby Tuesday no ha muerto.[3][20] She was awarded the Premio Narrativa de Colima in 2001 for Café cortado[6] and was a finalist for the Antonin Artaud award with Uno no sabe in 2003.[20] Her novel Yo, la peor was the 2010 winner of the Elena Poniatowska Ibero-american Novel Prize.[3] Her novel "Cuando te hablen de Amor" was a finalist for the III Premio Bienal Mario Vargas Llosa in 2019,[21] and shared the 2023 Sinaloa National Award for literature (el Premio Nacional Letras de Sinaloa) along with the Mexican poet Mario Bojórquez.[22]

Selected works edit

Collections of stories edit

  • Cuentos de desencuentro y otros (1986)
  • Nicolasa y los encajes (1991)
  • Retazos (1995)
  • Ruby Tuesday no ha muerto (1996)
  • La isla blanca (1998)
  • Por sevillanas (2000)
  • Uno no sabe (2004), Finalist Antonin Artaud Award[23]
  • La corredora de Cuemanco y el aficionado a Schubert (Punto de Lectura, 2008)
  • Pasarse de la raya (2010)
  • La casa chica (2012)
  • La tierra incierta (Flash, November 2012)[24]
  • Manual para enamorarse (Grijalbo 2012)

Novels edit

  • Tonada de un viejo amor (Plaza y Janes, 1996), (reissued by Planeta 2023[25])
  • Cambio de vías (Plaza & Janés 1999)
  • Café cortado (Random House Mondadori 2001)
  • Despertar los apetitos (2005)[26]
  • Hotel Limbo (Alfaguara 2008)[27]
  • Yo, la peor (Planeta 2009), Winner Elena Poniatowska Award[28][29]
  • Las rebeldes (Grijalbo 2011)[30]
  • Doble filo (Lumen 2014)[31]
  • Cuando te hablen de amor (Planeta 2017)[32][33]
  • Todo sobre nosotras (Planeta 2019)[34][35][36]
  • Últimos días de mis padres (Planeta, 2022)[37]

Nonfiction & Essays edit

  • Planeta azul, planeta gris (ADN Editores, 1998) - essays on the degradation of the environment
  • Es puro cuento: Cuaderno de escritura (Selector, 2016)
  • Leo, luego escribo (2001)
  • Sor Juana en la cocina (2010) con Ana Benítez Muro
  • Méxicontemporáneo: panorama de creadores (Aguilar, 2016)[38]

Young Adult Fiction edit

  • La más faulera (1997)
  • La línea de la carretera (Plaza & Janés 2004; Random House Mondadori 2008)
  • Camila y el cuadro robado (2019, Planeta)[39]

Anthology edit

  • Points of Departure: new stories from México (City Lights Books, 2000), Edited by Mónica Lavín (English)
  • Cuentos de ida y vuelta, short stories by Lavín and Colombia writer Octavio Escobar (Editora Regional de Extremadura, 2021)[40]

Translations edit

Meaty Pleasures (Katakana Editores, 2021), translation by Dorothy Potter Snyder.[41][42][43]

References edit

  1. ^ Corona, Sonia (May 28, 2019). "La Bienal de Novela Mario Vargas Llosa arranca con polémica por la escasa presencia de mujeres". El País. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Mónica Lavín" (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Revista de la Universidad de México. 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Mónica Lavín". Enciclopedia de la Literatura en México (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Mexican Ministry of Culture. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  4. ^ a b McVeigh, Paul (30 September 2015). "ISLA literary festival: a Q&A with bestselling Mexican author Monica Lavin". Dublin, Ireland: The Irish Times.
  5. ^ a b c Cerino, Kristian Antonio (21 November 2011). "Mónica Lavín, la escritora inquieta" (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Animal Politico. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Premio Bellas Artes de Narrativa Colima para Obra Publicada" (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura. 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  7. ^ Me gusta leer México (2012-07-18), La más faulera - Mónica Lavín - Septiembre 2012, retrieved 2016-04-21
  8. ^ Ruy Sánchez, Alberto (2006). "Mónica Lavín: Despertar los apetitos" [Monica Lavin: Whet the appetite] (PDF). Revista de la Universidad de México (in Spanish). 32. Mexico City: Universidad de México: 92–93.
  9. ^ Mateos-Vega, Monica (24 May 2005). "Mónica Lavín espera despertar el apetito por la escritura de ficción" (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: La jornada. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  10. ^ C.V., DEMOS, Desarrollo de Medios, S.A. de (May 2009). "La Jornada: Mónica Lavín desmitifica a Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz para hacerla más cercana". www.jornada.unam.mx. Retrieved 2016-04-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Mónica Lavín interviews Carlos Fuentes". Canal 22. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  12. ^ Lavin, Mónica (2001). Points of Departure: New Stories from Mexico. translator: Segade, Gustavo. San Francisco, California: City Lights Books. pp. 162. ISBN 978-0-87286-381-1.
  13. ^ Lee, G. D. (4 November 2014). "Para abrir apetito... un bocado de Mónica Lavín" (in Spanish). Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico: El Informador. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  14. ^ "Rosa Beltrán y Mónica Lavín lanzan "Contraseñas"". November 4, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016 – via Yahoo News.
  15. ^ "Opinión: dorar la pildora". El Universal.
  16. ^ ""La literatura sirve para desmitificar a los héroes": Mónica Lavín". Informador. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  17. ^ "Ficcionario". CDMX Ciudad de México. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  18. ^ ""Beltrán y Lavín exhiben "Contraseñas" de escritores en nuevo programa"". Terra.com. November 6, 2016. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  19. ^ Pacheco, Adriana (August 7, 2021). "Las contraseñas de Rosa Beltrán y Mónica Lavín". November 27, 2023.
  20. ^ a b "Mónica Lavín" (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain: Schavelzon Graham. 2016.
  21. ^ "Diez novelistas aspiran al III Premio Bienal Mario Vargas Llosa". El Blog de la Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes. February 14, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  22. ^ Noroeste Redacción (November 14, 2023). "Para Mario Bojórquez y Mónica Lavín, el Premio Nacional Letras de Sinaloa 2023". Noroeste. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  23. ^ "Enciclopedia de la Literatura en México". Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  24. ^ La tierra incierta y otros cuentos. November 2012.
  25. ^ El Informador (August 30, 2023). "Suena la "Tonada de un viejo amor"". El Informador. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  26. ^ Ruy Sánchez, Alberto (208). "Mónica Lavín: despertar los apetítos" (PDF). Revista de la Universidad de México.
  27. ^ Montaño Garfías, Ericka. "Hotel Limbo, novela sobre el deseo que sólo se cristaliza en la mirada (La Jornada)".
  28. ^ Jiménez, Arturo (October 7, 2010). "La Jornada". Mónica Lavín gana el premio Elena Poniatowska. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  29. ^ "Entrevista con Mónica Lavín, Revista MilMesetas". Milmesetas. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  30. ^ Palapa Quijas, Fabiola (December 2, 2011). "La Jornada". Mónica Lavín rescata del olvido a muchas mujeres que participaron en la Revolución. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  31. ^ Ventura, Abida (May 14, 2014). "En Doble Filo, Mónica Lavín recuerda el primer desamor". El Universal. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  32. ^ [1]{{http://confabulario.eluniversal.com.mx/cuando-te-hablen-de-amor/}}
  33. ^ "Agencia EFE".
  34. ^ ""Todo sobre nosotras" de Mónica Lavín trata la amistad, la memoria y el futuro". El Heraldo de México. October 30, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  35. ^ Pérez, Carina (October 26, 2019). "La amistad cambia la vida de las mujeres: Mónica Lavín". NVI Noticias. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  36. ^ Salazar, Ileana Olmeda (December 28, 2019). "En los viñedos del pasado". El Universal. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  37. ^ Priego, Teresa (June 13, 2022). "Mónica Lavín "Últimos días de mis padres"". La Silla Rota. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  38. ^ Aguilar, Yanet (November 16, 2016). "El Universal". Lavín: curiosa por vocación (discussion of book). Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  39. ^ Nolasco, Adrián Figueroa (June 9, 2019). "Dos en uno". La Crónica de Hoy. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  40. ^ "La Editora Regional de Extremadura presenta 'Cuentos de ida y vuelta' en la Feria del Libro de Medellín". Notimérica. October 11, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  41. ^ Semel, Lindsay (September 27, 2021). "What's New in TranslationL September 2021". Asymptote. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  42. ^ "Thursdays". Public Seminar. September 24, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  43. ^ Milkova, Stiliana (November 18, 2021). "On the Pleasures of Reading and Translating Women Writers". Reading in Translation. Retrieved December 11, 2021.